xcopy file, rename, suppress "Does xxx specify a file name..." message

This seems pretty simple and maybe I'm just overlooking the proper flag, but how would I, in one command, copy a file from one directory to another and rename it in the destination directory? Here's my command:

if exist "bin\development\whee.config.example"
  if not exist "TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config"
    xcopy "bin\development\whee.config.example"
          "TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config"

It prompts me with the following every time:

> Does TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config specify a file name or directory name on the target (F = file, D = directory)?

I want to suppress this prompt; the answer is always F.

I use

echo f | xcopy /f /y srcfile destfile

to get around it.

Don't use the xcopy, use copy instead, it doesn't have this issue.

xcopy is generally used when performing recursive copies of multiple files/folders, or when you need the verification/prompting features it offers. For single file copies, the copy command works just fine.

Another option is to use a destination wildcard. Note that this only works if the source and destination filenames will be the same, so while this doesn't solve the OP's specific example, I thought it was worth sharing.

For example:

xcopy /y "bin\development\whee.config.example" "TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\*" 

will create a copy of the file "whee.config.example" in the destination directory without prompting for file or directory.

Update: As mentioned by @chapluck:

You can change "* " to "[newFileName].*". It persists file extension but allows to rename. Or more hacky: "[newFileName].[newExt]*" to change extension

There is some sort of undocumented feature in XCOPY. you can use:

xcopy "bin\development\whee.config.example" "c:\mybackup\TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config*"

i tested it just today. :-)

Just go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491035.aspx

Here's what the MAIN ISSUE is "... If Destination does not contain an existing directory and does not end with a backslash (), the following message appears: ...

Does destination specify a file name or directory name on the target (F = file, D = directory)?

You can suppress this message by using the /i command-line option, which causes xcopy to assume that the destination is a directory if the source is more than one file or a directory.

Took me a while, but all it takes is RTFM.

So, there is a simple fix for this. It is admittedly awkward, but it works. xcopy will not prompt to find out if the destination is a directory or file IF the new file(filename) already exists. If you precede your xcopy command with a simple echo to the new filename, it will overwrite the empty file. Example

echo.>newfile.txt
xcopy oldfile.txt newfile.txt /Y

This is from Bills answer.

Just to be really clear for others.

If you are copying ONE file from one place to another AND you want the full directory structure to be created, use the following command:

xcopy "C:\Data\Images\2013\08\12\85e4a707-2672-481b-92fb-67ecff20c96b.jpg" "C:\Target Data\\Images\2013\08\12\85e4a707-2672-481b-92fb-67ecff20c96b.jpg\" 

Yes, put a backslash at the end of the file name and it will NOT ask you if it's a file or directory. Because there is only ONE file in the source, it will assume it's a file.

I met same issue when try to copy file with new name only if file does not exist in destination or exist (with new name), but is older. The solution is to add * char at end of destination file name. Example:

xcopy "C:\src\whee.config.txt" "C:\dest\bee.config.txt*" /D /Y

xcopy src dest /I

REM This assumes dest is a folder and will create it, if it doesnt exists

XCOPY with * at the end of the target to copy files whether they exist or not in destination XCOPY with \ at the end of the target to copy folders and contents whether exist or not in destination

Alternatively

RoboForm SOURCE DEST FILE for files RoboForm SOURCE DEST for folders

Back to the original question:

 xcopy "bin\development\whee.config.example" "TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config"

could be done with two commands eg:

mkdir "c:\mybackup\TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config\.."
xcopy "bin\development\whee.config.example" "c:\mybackup\TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config\"

By simply appending "\.." to the path of the destination file the destination directory is created if it not already exists. In this case

"c:\mybackup\TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\"

which is the parent directory of the non-existing directory

"c:\mybackup\TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config\.."

At least for WIN7 mkdir does not care if the directory

"c:\mybackup\TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config\"

really exists.

I had a similar issue and both robocopy and xcopy did not help, as I wanted to suppress the comments and use a different destination filename. I found

type filename.txt > destfolder\destfilename.txt

working as per my requirements.

The right thing to do if you wanna copy just file and change it's name at destination is :

> xcopy /f /y "bin\development\example.exe" > "TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\NewName.exe*"

And it's Gonna work fine

I suggest robocopy instead of copy or xcopy. Used as command or in GUI on clients or servers. Tolerant of network pauses and you can choose to ignore file attributes when copying of copy by file attributes. Oh, and it supports multi-core machines so files are copied much faster in "parallel" with each other instead of sequentially. robocopy can be found on MS TechNet.

For duplicating large files, xopy with /J switch is a good choice. In this case, simply pipe an F for file or a D for directory. Also, you can save jobs in an array for future references. For example:

$MyScriptBlock = {
    Param ($SOURCE, $DESTINATION) 
    'F' | XCOPY $SOURCE $DESTINATION /J/Y 
    #DESTINATION IS FILE, COPY WITHOUT PROMPT IN DIRECT BUFFER MODE
}
JOBS +=START-JOB -SCRIPTBLOCK $MyScriptBlock -ARGUMENTLIST $SOURCE,$DESTIBNATION
$JOBS | WAIT-JOB | REMOVE-JOB

Thanks to Chand with a bit modifications: https://stackoverflow.com/users/3705330/chand

Place an asterisk(*) at the end of the destination path to skip the dispute of D and F.

Example:

> xcopy "compressedOutput.xml" "../../Execute > Scripts/APIAutomation/Libraries/rerunlastfailedbuild.xml*"

Use copy instead of xcopy when copying files.

e.g. copy "bin\development\whee.config.example" "TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\whee.config"

Work Around, use ReName... and Name it some Cryptic Name, then ReName it to its Proper Name

C:

CD "C:\Users\Public\Documents\My Web Sites\AngelFire~Zoe"

XCopy /D /I /V /Y "C:\Users\Public\Documents\My Web Sites\HostGator ~ ZoeBeans\cop.htm"

Ren "cop.htm" "christ-our-passover.htm"

xcopy will allow you to copy a single file into a specifed folder it just wont allow you to define a destination name. If you require the destination name just rename it before you copy it.

ren "bin\development\whee.config.example" whee.config

xcopy /R/Y "bin\development\whee.config" "TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug"

When working with single files , I use both commands.

To copy a file to another existing directory, use copy

copy srcPath\srcFile existingDir\newFile

To copy an existing file to and create new directories, use xcopy

xcopy srcPath\srcFile newDirectoryPath\newFile

To suppress the xcopy 'file or directory' prompt, echo in the response. So for a file copy echo in f.

echo f | xcopy srcPath\srcFile newDirectoryPath\newFile

Note flag /y works in both commands to suppress the confirmation to overwrite the existing destination file.

---

MS Docs: copy, xcopy

Since you're not actually changing the filename, you can take out the filename from the destination and there will be no questions.

xcopy bin\development\whee.config.example TestConnectionExternal\bin\Debug\  /Y

This approach works well when the destination directory is guaranteed to exist, and when the source may equally be a file or directory.

Does xxxxxxxxxxxx specify a file name or directory name on the target

(F = file, D = directory)? D

if a File : (echo F)
if a Directory (echo D)

You cannot specify that it's always a file. If you don't need xcopy's other features, why not just use regular copy?